Map of Persian Iraq and its surroundings

Persian Iraq, also uncommonly spelled Persian Irak ( ''Erāq-e Ajam'' or ''Erāq-e Ajami''; ''ʿIrāq al-ʿAjam'' or ''al-ʿIrāq al-ʿAjamī'', literally, "Iraq of the

Ajam (, ) is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially a Persian. It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribing muteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after the Muslim conquest of Iran. Since the ea ...

"), is a

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

of the western parts of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The region, originally known as

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

in pre-Islamic times, became known as

Jibal Jibāl (), also al-Jabal (), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' ("mountain, hill"), highlight ...

("mountain, hill") by early Islamic geographers, due its mountainous layout. The name was progressively abandoned during the

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

era in the 11th and 12th centuries, and was called ''ʿIrāq-i ʿAjam(ī)'' ("Persian Iraq") to distinguish it from ''ʿIrāq-i ʿArab(ī)'' (" Arab Iraq") in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. According to the medieval historian and geographer

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...

, this course started taking place when the Seljuk sultans ruled both Iraq proper and Jibal, thus being addressed "sultan al-Iraq". However, the city of

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

in Jibal eventually became their capital, thus resulting in the region becoming known as Iraq, with the word

i ("Persian") being added. Following the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of Iran in the 13th-century, the name Jibal had become completely outdated. In the following century, the geographer

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini (; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and the interregnum that followed. A native of Qazvin, Mustawfi belonged to fami ...

was unaware of the name Jibal, and only knew it as 'Iraq-i Ajami'. It was regarded by him as ''sardsīr'' ("cold zone"). Later, until the beginning of the 20th century, the term ''Iraq'' in Iran was used to refer to a much smaller region south of

Saveh Saveh () is a city in the Central District of Saveh County, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is about southwest of Tehran. History In the 7th century BC it was a stronghold of the Medes. ...

and west of

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

. This region was centered on Soltanabad, which was renamed later as Arak.

Citations

General and cited references

* * * * {{EI2 , volume = 2 , title = D̲j̲ibāl , first = L. , last = Lockhart , authorlink = , page = 534 , doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2068 Historical geography of Iran Historical regions of Iran